Opportunities for Latino Americans (i.e. those people who are or have family ancestry from Latin America) in the film industry, often mirrors the opportunities, and challenges, facing people of other racial or ethnic identities who work in the industry, behind or in front of the film camera. Historically, actors or actresses of Latino ancestry often found work within certain stereotypical roles, which often reflected broader social attitudes and cultural biases.
Latino men were frequently depicted as being highly aggressive and also with low levels of emotional maturity, i.e. criminals, low-life thugs or the highly passionate, even violent, love interest of the starring character. Latino women, Latinas, were similarly portrayed when it came to their sexuality, but where as Latino men could be in a position of authority, albeit within an anti-social, criminal setting, Latinas were oftentimes characters with much less authority, such as housemaids, domestic servants or even prostitutes.
Traditionally, even without the usage of these stereotypes, it was rare for a Latino or Latina character in a film to be the star, unless the film was primarily marketed to a Latino audience. Behind the camera, it is still difficult for a Latino film producer, director, screenwriter or cinematographer to have mainstream commercial success.
However, as the social attitudes and biases change, there has been a gradual improvement in film depictions as well as in career opportunities for Latin Americans.
The negative stereotyping of Latinos in film relates to the history of Latinos. Mexican Americans were seen by Anglos as uneducated and lacking integrity and thus unworthy of the rights to citizenship. Early films portrayed these negative stereotypes of Mexicans and Mexican Americans, but as time went on these stereotypes expanded to Central and South Americans. In the late 1890s, few Latinos were involved in filmmaking or appeared as actors in films. The Latinos that did appear in films or produced films were from privileged backgrounds. At this time, the late 1890s, filmmaking consisted of silent films. Myrtle Gonzalez and Beatriz Michelena were among the few Latinos to create silent films. In the 1910s and 1920s, a few film production companies rose to dominate the industry, forcing the depletion of Latinos working in film production. It was not until the 1970s that Latinos reemerged in the field of film production.
Silent western films were the first films to feature Latino characters. The Latino characters often played the role of the rebellious "greaser" opposing the white hero. The term "greaser" is used to describe Mexican bandits and other lazy, untrustworthy Mexican characters. Tony the Greaser and The Greaser's Revenge were two movies that capitalized on this storyline. These films helped to start the trend of establishing Latino characters as "others" in contrast to whites. The Mexican government in the 1920s complained and boycotted Hollywood films. These boycotts and complaints led film producers to disassociate negative Latino characters from identification with any particular country. This led to pan-Latino representations which were still negative, just not associated with one particular country.
The mid-1920s led to a few opportunities for Latino actors and actresses. The popularity of the Italian actor Rudolph Valentino, the original "Latin lover", created opportunities for Latino actors and actresses such as Ramón Novarro, Dolores del Río, Lupe Vélez, Carmen Miranda etc. These actors were cast as major roles as passionate Latin lover types and became international stars in silent films. The Latin lover image capitalized on notions that Latinos were innately passionate and sexual. The Latin lover image still exists today along with Latinos being viewed as villains and servants.
Just as the population of Latinos is rapidly rising in the United States in the 21st century, Latinos are also emerging (although not as quickly as the population) in media, including motion pictures, both in front of and behind the camera. Mainstream news media conglomerates are finally covering "Latinos in Film" news, and also offer ground-breaking coverage specifically aimed at spotlighting Latinos in film, such as The Huffington Post 's Latino Entertainment page. News not only highlights Latino celebrities, but Latino filmmakers of both studio and independent movies. Additionally, a small handful of organizations have emerged in the 2000s that advocate for Latinos rights and opportunity in the field of entertainment in the United States, as well as raising awareness of these rising talents, including the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP), The Latino Film Fund (LFF) and Edward James Olmos' Latino International Film Institute.
One of the first movies that portrayed Latinos not as stereotypes, but as regular families with their strengths and weaknesses was Mi Familia . The film won the Latino magazine's[ clarification needed ] best picture of the 1995. It starred Edward James Olmos, Jimmy Smits and Jennifer Lopez.
Jennifer Lopez appeared in the Latino magazine's list of Hollywood's most powerful along with producer Nely Galán, writer–producer Josefina López, and Cameron Diaz. She also starred in movies such as Jack alongside Robin Williams, Anaconda as a female lead, and Money Train with Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson.
Moctesuma Esparza is a famous Latino producer who is best known for Selena , which grossed $21.7 million in its first ten days. He started his career in the 1980s with movies like Gettysburg , The Battle of Gregorio Cortez and The Milagro Beanfield War .
Things seem to be changing for Latinos in Hollywood as many Latinos enter and excel in the television and film industry. With movies such as Mi Familia and Selena making a respectable showing at the box office, the future is looking bright for Latinos in film.
Actors | Note |
---|---|
Desi Arnaz | Born in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba |
Desi Arnaz Jr. | Son of Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball |
Kuno Becker | Is a Mexican actor of German descent |
Demián Bichir | Is a Mexican actor of Lebanese descent |
Rubén Blades | Born in Panama City, Panama |
Diego Boneta | Is a Mexican actor and singer |
Benjamin Bratt | Is of Peruvian and German descent |
Leo Carrillo | Was of Mexican and Spanish descent |
Pedro de Cordoba | Was of Cuban and French descent |
Benicio del Toro | Is a Puerto Rican actor |
Eugenio Derbez | Is a Mexican actor |
Héctor Elizondo | Is of Puerto Rican descent |
Erik Estrada | Is of Puerto Rican descent |
José Ferrer | Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico |
Miguel Ferrer | Son of José Ferrer and Rosemary Clooney |
Andy García | Born in Havana, Cuba |
Gael García Bernal | Born in Guadalajara, Mexico |
Jorge Garcia | Is of Cuban and Chilean descent |
Michael Garza | Is of Mexican descent |
Alfonso Herrera | Is a Mexican actor |
Oscar Isaac | Born in Guatemala City, Guatemala |
Raúl Juliá | Was a Puerto Rican actor |
Fernando Lamas | Was an Argentine actor |
Lorenzo Lamas | Is of Argentine descent |
John Leguizamo | Born in Bogotá, Colombia |
George Lopez | Is of Mexican descent |
Mario Lopez | Is of Mexican descent |
Diego Luna | Is a Mexican actor |
Cheech Marin | Is of Mexican descent |
Chris-Pin Martin | Was of Mexican descent |
Ricardo Montalbán | Born in Mexico City, Mexico |
Frankie Muniz | Is of Puerto Rican, Irish, and Italian descent |
Ramon Novarro | Was a Mexican actor |
Edward James Olmos | Is of Mexican descent |
Pedro Pascal | Born in Santiago, Chile |
Michael Peña | Is of Mexican descent |
Tyler Posey | Son of John Posey, his mother was of Mexican descent |
Freddie Prinze | Was of Puerto Rican and German descent |
Freddie Prinze Jr. | Son of Freddie Prinze, his mother is of English and Irish descent |
Anthony Quinn | Was a Mexican actor |
Paul Rodriguez | Born in Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico |
Gilbert Roland | Was a Mexican actor |
Rodrigo Santoro | Is a Brazilian actor |
Charles Stevens | Was of Mexican and English descent |
Danny Trejo | Is of Mexican descent |
Wilmer Valderrama | Is of Colombian and Venezuelan descent |
Actresses | Note |
---|---|
Jessica Alba | Her father is of Mexican ancestry |
María Conchita Alonso | Is a Cuban-Venezuelan actress and singer |
Trini Alvarado | Is a Puerto Rican-American actress |
Adria Arjona | Is a Guatemalan-Puerto Rican actress |
Lucie Arnaz | Daughter of Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball |
Bérénice Bejo | Is a French-Argentine actress |
Sônia Braga | Is a Brazilian actress |
Barbara Carrera | Is a Nicaraguan-American actress |
Elpidia Carrillo | Is a Mexican actress |
Lynda Carter | Her mother was of Spanish-Mexican descent [1] |
Rosario Dawson | Her mother is of Puerto Rican and Afro-Cuban descent |
Ana de Armas | Is a Cuban actress |
Cote de Pablo | Is a Chilean-American actress |
Kate del Castillo | Is a Mexican actress |
Dolores del Río | Was a Mexican actress |
Cameron Diaz | Her father's family were Cuban (of Spanish descent) |
America Ferrera | Her parents, were originally from Tegucigalpa, Honduras |
Selena Gomez | Her father is of Mexican descent |
Eiza González | Is a Mexican actress and singer |
Salma Hayek | Is a Mexican actress of Lebanese and Spanish descent |
Katy Jurado | Was a Mexican actress |
Victoria Justice | Her mother is of Puerto Rican ancestry |
Eva Longoria | Is a Mexican-American actress |
Jennifer Lopez | Puerto Rican parents |
Demi Lovato | Her father was of Mexican and Spanish descent |
Mía Maestro | Is an Argentine actress |
Eva Mendes | Is a Cuban-American actress |
Carmen Miranda | Was a Portuguese-born Brazilian |
Fernanda Montenegro | Is a Brazilian actress |
Maria Montez | Was a Dominican actress |
Rita Moreno | Is a Puerto Rican actress and singer |
Lupe Ontiveros | Daughter of Mexican immigrants |
Rosie Perez | Puerto Rican parents |
Dania Ramirez | Is a Dominican-American actress |
Sara Ramírez | Is a Mexican-American actress |
Chita Rivera | Is a Puerto Rican actress and singer |
Naya Rivera | Her father was of Puerto Rican ancestry |
Génesis Rodríguez | Is an American actress |
Gina Rodriguez | Is a Puerto Rican actress |
Michelle Rodriguez | Her mother is a native of the Dominican Republic, her father is a native of Puerto Rico |
Zoe Saldana | Is of mixed Puerto Rican and Dominican heritage |
Roselyn Sánchez | Is a Puerto Rican singer-songwriter, model, actress, producer and writer |
Catalina Sandino Moreno | Is a Colombian actress |
Madeleine Stowe | Her mother came from a prominent family in Costa Rica |
Karla Souza | Is a Mexican actress. |
Lupita Tovar | Was a Mexican actress. |
Sofía Vergara | Is a Colombian actress |
Lupe Vélez | Was a Mexican actress. |
Raquel Welch | Her father is of Bolivian descent |
Tahnee Welch | Daughter of Raquel Welch, her father is of European descent |
Edward James Olmos is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Lieutenant Martin "Marty" Castillo in Miami Vice (1984–1989), American Me (1992), William Adama in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica (2004–2009), Detective Gaff in Blade Runner (1982) and its sequel Blade Runner 2049 (2017) and the voice of Mito in the 2005 English dub of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. For his performance as high school math teacher Jaime Escalante in Stand and Deliver (1988), he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Selena is a 1997 American biographical musical drama film about Tejano music star Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, played by Jennifer Lopez. The film, written and directed by Gregory Nava, chronicles the star's rise to fame and death when she was murdered by Yolanda Saldívar at the age of 23. In addition to Lopez, the film also stars Edward James Olmos, Jon Seda, Constance Marie, Jacob Vargas, Lupe Ontiveros, and Jackie Guerra.
Seidy López is a Mexican-American actress and director.
Guadalupe "Lupe" Ontiveros was an American actress best known for portraying Rosalita in The Goonies, and Yolanda Saldívar in the film Selena. She acted in numerous films and television shows. Ontiveros was nominated for an Emmy Award for her work on Desperate Housewives and received critical acclaim for her role in Chuck & Buck, for which Ontiveros won the National Board of Review award for Best Supporting Actress, and was also nominated for an Independent Spirit Award.
Josefina López is a Chicana playwright, perhaps best known as the author of the play Real Women Have Curves. López is also the Founding Artistic Director of the CASA 0101 theater located in Boyle Heights, California, which began in 2000.
Stereotypes of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States are general representations of Americans considered to be of Hispanic and Latino ancestry or immigrants to the United States from Spain or Latin America, often exhibited in negative caricatures or terms. Latin America comprises all the countries in the Americas that were originally colonized by the Spaniards, French, or Portuguese. "Latino" is the umbrella term for people of Latin American descent that in recent years has supplanted the more imprecise and bureaucratic designation "Hispanic." Part of the mystery and the difficulty of comprehension lie in the fact that the territory called Latin America is not homogeneous in nature or culture. Latin American stereotypes have the greatest impact on public perceptions, and Latin Americans were the most negatively rated on several characteristics. Americans' perceptions of the characteristics of Latin American immigrants are often linked to their beliefs about the impact of immigration on unemployment, schools and crime.
"No Me Queda Más" is a song by American singer Selena on her fourth studio album, Amor Prohibido. It was released as the third single from the album in October 1994 by EMI Latin. "No Me Queda Más" was written by Ricky Vela, and production was handled by Selena's brother A.B. Quintanilla. A downtempo mariachi and pop ballad, "No Me Queda Más" portrays the ranchera storyline of a woman in agony after the end of a relationship. Its lyrics express an unrequited love, the singer wishing the best for her former lover and his new partner.
There are stereotypes of various groups of people which live within the United States and contribute to its culture. Worldwide, a disproportionately high number of people know about these stereotypes, due to the transmission of American culture and values via the exportation of American-made films and television shows.
In Mexican culture, it is now relatively common to see gay characters represented on Mexican sitcoms and soap operas (telenovelas) and being discussed on talk shows. However, representations of male homosexuals vary widely. They often include stereotypical versions of male effeminacy meant to provide comic relief as well as representations meant to increase social awareness and generate greater acceptance of homosexuality. However, efforts to represent lesbians have remained nearly non-existent, which might be related to the more general invisibility of lesbian subcultures in Mexico.
The National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) civil rights organization active in the United States that was founded to eliminate hate, discrimination, and racism towards the Latino community.
Pantelion Films is an American film production company that was created in 2010 and based in Santa Monica, California. The studio's goal is to bring wider theatrical distribution of movies aimed at Latino audiences. It is backed by TelevisaUnivision and Lionsgate Studios. It has made theatrical relationships with movie exhibition chains including Regal Entertainment Group, AMC Theatres, Cinemex, and Cinemark. The studio's first film was 2011's From Prada to Nada, which Lionsgate and Grupo Televisa announced it had commissioned for a television series that did not materialize in 2012.
The Bronze Screen directed and produced by Susan Racho, and Alberto Dominguez, examines, analyzes, and critiques the portrayal of Latinos in Hollywood over the course of a century. Released in 2002, the documentary traces the different stereotypes evoked by Hollywood throughout the mid 19th and 20th century. This is done through the use of silent films and small excerpts from a variety of movie genres that feature Latinos. Carmen Miranda and Margarita Cansino are a few of the many Latin actors and actresses whose careers, according to film historians, directors, and fellow actors featured in the documentary, were fabricated and highly manipulated by Hollywood. Furthermore, these actresses are used to illustrate the politics behind American Cinema and Latino/a negative representations in Hollywood. In addition to exploring stereotypes and negative representations of Latinos, The Bronze Screen also acknowledges the contribution and emergence of Latino writers, directors, cinematographers, composers, and graphic designers. Luis Valdez, Pablo Ferro, Moctesuma Esparza, and John Alonzo are a few, among the many featured in the documentary, that have paved the way for other Latinos who want to work in the industry, as well as, portrayed Latinos in a more positive manner through their films.
Comedy in the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema is a Mexican era of film popular during "El Porfiriato" which represents the reign of Porfirio Díaz as dictator in Mexico.
Racial stereotyping in advertising refers to using assumptions about people based on characteristics thought to be typical of their identifying racial group in marketing.
Inequality in Hollywood refers to the various forms of discrimination and social inequality in the American media industry. There are many branches of the media industry, such as news, television, film, music, agencies, studios, to name some of the major players. In each one of these branches, there are many instances of inequality since Hollywood formed as the entertainment hub of America in the early 1900s.
Latinos Beyond Reel is a documentary which was released on February 23, 2013. Latinos Beyond Reel taps into the harsh reality of Latino representation in the media industry. Latinos Beyond Reel was directed by Miguel Picker and Chyng-Feng Sun. Latinos Beyond Reel is under The Media Education Foundation (MEF). The Media Education Foundation (MEF) produced and distributed the film. The film talks about the underrepresentation and marginalization of Latinos in the U.S media. The film also talks about the effects the false representation of Latinos in the media industry has on youth. Latinos Beyond Reel captures the most unfortunate portrayal of Latinos in the media ranging from off-screen roles to animated characters in film and television.
Latin lover is a stereotypical stock character, part of the Hollywood star system. It appeared for the first time in Hollywood in the 1920s and, for the most part, lost popularity during World War II. In time, the type evolved, developing various local variants and gradually incorporating attributes other than the originally defining physical characteristics.
In the 1920s, theater in the United States and the cinema of the United States were both increasingly active. Broadway was reaching its peak, classic theatre was working to be recognized, and the cinema business was growing as well. Within this decade, there were many changes within the social, economic, and legal environment in the United States, and these changes were often reflected into the art forms of the time period. In the 1920s, theatre utilized jazz, Vaudeville, straight plays, and musicals.
Brownface is a social phenomenon in which a white or light-skinned person attempts to portray themselves as a "brown" person of color, but less overtly and with a lighter complexion than traditional blackface. This may include mimicry of North African, West Asian, South Asian, Southeast Asian, Melanesian, Micronesian, Polynesian, Hispanic/Latino, Native American or other Indigenous groups, including olive-skinned Caucasians such as Southern Italians, Sicilians, Greeks, Arabs, Persians and/or ethnic identity by using makeup, hair-dye, and/or by wearing traditional ethnic clothing. It is typically defined as a racist phenomenon, similar to blackface.
Chicano cinema is an aspect of Mexican American cinema that refers to the filmmaking practices that emerged out of the cultural consciousness developed through the Chicano Movement. Luis Valdez is generally regarded as the first Chicano filmmaker and El Teatro Campesino as the first theater company.